"Teva is undergoing change," Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) CFO Eyal Desheh said at a Oppenheimer investment bank conference in Tel Aviv today. Desheh was main questioned about Teva's acquisition of Cephalon Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH) two weeks ago and Teva's dependence on its multiple sclerosis drug, Copaxone.
As for Cephalon Desheh said, "We believe that the price was absolutely reasonable, and maybe even cheap. Its market cap used to be higher. I strongly hope and believe that time will show that the price was a good one."
As for Copaxone, Desheh said, "I believe that Teva will continue to be the global leader in multiple sclerosis. We have the knowledge, the sales capabilities, and the products, and we believe that the patents are well protected. Product development procedures are very slow. I hope that I am not wrong, but we have the impression that the companies developing generic versions of Copaxone are not making much progress. I believe that there is a need for clinical trials, and if the FDA doesn’t insist on it, doctors will, in order to avoid risk. I think that reports of the products demise are premature. This is one of the things affecting Teva's share, I think unjustifiably."
Desheh concluded, "Our growth is a mixture of organic growth and acquisitions. If there's no organic growth, it's hard to finance acquisitions. Teva has had double-digit organic growth for 30 years, and it will continue to grow. We buy profits and we buy cash flow, that's what acquisitions do."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 15, 2011
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